彭蒙惠英语：What Makes a Team Tick?

What Makes a Team Tick?

 

By Richard G. Ensman, Jr.

 

Business leaders often speak about “team building” in glittering generalities. But do they truly understand the forces that build team spirit in the workplace?

 

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Team building. You’ve heard the term dozens of times. So what does team building in business really mean?

 

Popular belief suggests that effective teams arise when people with similar work styles or personalities¹ are grouped together in the workplace. But more often than not, effective teams arise because groups of people share similar outlooks toward their work lives. The greater the commonality of work and life philosophies, the more tightly knit the team will be.

 

If you want to build a team, consider the outlooks and attitudes of the prospective² members as you try to instill a common spirit in the group.

 

Outlooks and attitudes of an effective team

What are the key business values of the team members? Does one member place a high priority on human relations? Another on productivity? Another on long-range planning? None of these values are intrinsically “right” or “wrong.” But a clash of values fosters autonomy, not teamwork.

 

What are the personal aspirations⁴ of your team members? Lateral⁵ career moves? Promotions⁶? A chance to “make a difference” in their chosen fields? Common aspirations tend to motivate people to work toward goals together.

 

What goals and objectives do members of your team emphasize on a day-to-day basis? What objectives take priority in their annual work plans? The more agreement between the goals of your business and those of the prospective team members, the greater the likelihood you’ll create a workable team.

 

 

Vocabulary Focus

what makes one tick (idiom) the reasons for someone’s or something’s behavior and/or personality

tightly knit (adj phr) closely connected

intrinsically (adv) [in5trinsikEli] relating to an extremely important and basic characteristic of a person or thing

aspiration³ (n) [7AspE5reiFEn] something one hopes to achieve

 

Specialized⁷ Terms

glittering generality (n phr) 口号或装饰性的言词 highly appealing words closely associated with concepts and beliefs that aren’t necessarily based on information or reason

autonomy (n) 自治权 the right of a person or group of people to self-government; the right to work independently

lateral (adj) 横向的 relating to a transfer or change in position to one of equal status, involving no advancement⁸; sideways movement

 

如何启动团队

 

企业领导人常用空泛的号召性语言谈论“团队建立”。然而他们确实了解建立团队精神的动力吗？

 

马勤 译

 

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“团队建立”这个名词你已经听过许多次了。那么，在企业中团队建立所指的到底是什么？

一般的观念是，把做事风格或特质相似的人聚集在一个工作场所，就会产生有效的团队。但往往，这种团队是由对职业生涯有相同观点的一群人所凝聚出来的。工作及人生观的共通点愈多，团队的交织愈紧密。

如果你想要建立一个团队，在试图将共同理念灌输到群体中时，想想未来成员的观点及态度。

 

有成效的团队的观点及态度

团队成员主要的企业价值为何？是否有一个人将公共关系列为高度优先？另外一人认为生产力最重要？或者，还有一人看重长远规划？本质上，这些价值观无所谓“对”或“错”。但价值观的冲突会培养自治，而非团队。

 

你的团队成员个人的抱负为何？平行的工作生涯转换？升官？在各自选择的领域有“表现突出”的机会？相同的抱负易于激励人们一起朝目标前进。

 

日常工作中，你的团队成员注重的目标和目的是什么？年度工作计划中，他们将哪些目标列为优先？企业的目标和未来团队成员的目标愈一致，就愈有可能组成一个有所作为的团队。

 

 

1 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

2 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

3 aspiration   

n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出

参考例句：

• Man's aspiration should be as lofty as the stars.人的志气应当象天上的星星那么高。
• Young Addison had a strong aspiration to be an inventor.年幼的爱迪生渴望成为一名发明家。

4 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

5 lateral   

adj.侧面的，旁边的

参考例句：

• An airfoil that controls lateral motion.能够控制横向飞行的机翼。
• Mr.Dawson walked into the court from a lateral door.道森先生从一个侧面的门走进法庭。

6 promotions   

促进( promotion的名词复数 )； 提升； 推广； 宣传

参考例句：

• All services or promotions must have an appeal and wide application. 所有服务或促销工作都必须具有吸引力和广泛的适用性。
• He promptly directed the highest promotions and decorations for General MacArthur. 他授予麦克阿瑟将军以最高的官阶和勋奖。

7 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

8 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。